Academic Success 1

Each year about 2.75 million students enroll in a 4 year degree program at a university. On average 33 percent of these students drop out within their first two years of school. Academic success is an ongoing effort and can be a struggle for many students that have outside factors affecting their ability to attend school. Following a few simple steps can help students manage their lifestyle and continue academic success. Goal setting, thinking critically, understanding the writing process, and decision making are all steps to continuing academic success and avoiding road blocks.
The first step to continuing academic success is goal setting. Setting S.M.A.R.T goals or goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely can help make a huge endeavor seem attainable. Psychologist Camille Rodriquez states that “any goals that students set should be meaningful to them, not just words on paper.” Students that take the time to truly understand what they want to accomplish and set goals to get them there are 83 percent more likely to achieve that goal. According to a study at the University of Michigan 70 percent of college students drop out because of lack of time and being burned out. Setting small attainable goals can help keep a student focused on something small that may not be as daunting as four years of school. Setting goals can help with time management and avoid the dreaded burned out feeling that leads to procrastination and failure. According to Professor Robert Phil of McGill University only 35% of full-time university students in the United States earn their degree in the expected 4 years; this figure rises to just 57% after 6 years. What this shows is that many students are not setting goals regarding their education and they are just taking classes to take them. Students must know their purpose for attending school and then set timely goals to achieve success. Goal setting is the first step in achieve 2 academic success and will give students the ability to think critically, the second step in achieving academic success.
Thinking critically is the ability to analyze a question and obtain a full understanding, giving you the ability to make a decision supported with evidence. Critical thinking is a task that we as human beings use daily and is a necessary skill needed for achieving academic success. When forming a judgment sometimes factors such as emotion can affect the way you think. The schreiner (n.d.) website http://www.ehow.com article on “How Emotional Thinking Affects Critical Thinking” states that “when people engage in critical thinking, they rationally weigh the benefits and weaknesses of each choice, usually leading to making the right decision. When someone thinks emotionally they make decisions based off of how they feel which may not always align with the way they would think critically.” With so many distractions outside of school it is hard for some students to stay emotionally stable and maintain the ability to think critically. A test performed at a University over a broad population of students showed that students that generally had a higher GPA were able to think critically and interpret more facts about questions. This relates to goal setting and time management by showing that allowing yourself ample time to understand a question will help with making the right decision. Critical thinking is essential in achieving academic success and may also help with understanding the writing process.
One of the biggest steps in continuing academic success is accurately understanding the writing process. Weather for research or to persuade a reader, a college student must understand the writing process to obtain success. In academic year 2010-2011, the University of Ireland Maynooth collaborated to provide academic writing support for first year students. The sessions, which were workshops and large group lectures, were active and participative in nature, and designed with the sole purpose of 3 helping students to improve their writing. At the beginning of the study 15 percent of the students could not properly write a thesis statement and support it. After the year of writing support the results were dramatic and showed the students from that academic year had much more detailed papers supported by actual facts not opinion. Being able to write a scholarly paper is an essential task for college students looking to continue academic success.
The final step in continuing academic success is roper decision making. Decision making may seem like a simple task but bad decision making can cause a student to fail out of school within less than a year. The Georgia Tech University Student Resource Center stated that when making a decision there are a few essential steps one must take. Before making a decision on an issue you must first evaluate the issue and find the facts that will help influence your judgment. Then you must comprehend all of the facts that relate to the issue. Next you must analyze the information pertaining to the issue before finally forming a judgment. College students are constantly in the decision making process, do they start their assignment early or procrastinate and take the consequences. Those that have the ability to analyze their academic situation and make the right decision are more likely to continue academic success. Decision making ties into the three steps previously mentioned because the decisions students make regarding goal setting, thinking critically, and the writing process can help them achieve academic success.
Academic success is an ongoing process and can be a struggle for many students. Making the right decisions regarding academics and proper goal setting can make the difference between achieving and continuing academic success or not. Understanding the writing process and thinking critically about each stage of schooling can help a student gain a better understanding of the material. . Goal setting,

4 thinking critically, understanding the writing process, and decision making are all steps to continuing academic success and avoiding road blocks.

References

Bressler, L. A., Bressler, M. E., & Bressler, M. S. (2010). THE ROLE AND RELATIONSHIP OF HOPE, OPTIMISM AND GOAL SETTING IN ACHIEVING ACADEMIC SUCCESS: A STUDY OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN ONLINE ACCOUNTING COURSES. Academy Of Educational Leadership Journal, 14(4), 37-51.

Steward, R. J., & Al-Abdulla, Y. (1989). An Examination of the Relationship between Critical Thinking and Academic Success on a University Campus.

Farrell, A., & Tighe-Mooney, S. (2013). PROCESS AND PRODUCT: SUPPORTING ACADEMIC WRITING IN HIGHER EDUCATION. AISHE-J: The All Ireland Journal Of Teaching & Learning In Higher Education, 5(1), 1101-11018.

reflecting on goals helps achieve academic success. (2010, november). Goal setting and academic success, 9(2), 255-264. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Goal-Setting-and-Academics---SMART-Goals-Retooled-For-the-Classroom&id=3636528